FOOD & BAR GUIDE INSIDE GRAND VALLEY
JUDON SETS GV SACK RECORD AS LAKERS EDGE OUT TIFFIN 49-42 SEE A9
ST U D E N T- R U N P U B L I C A T I O N S // P R I N T . O N L I N E . M O B I L E // L A N T H O R N . C O M A L L E N D A L E & G R A N D R A P I DS , M I C H I G A N
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COMMUNITY INPUT
NEWS
GV Good Samaritan resolution introduced Student senator Benjamin Soltis introduced his resolution to allow legally carried firearms on campus to be used in case of emergency SEE A3
A&E
GRSO to perform ‘Fantasia” downtown The Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra will perform music from Walt Disney’s popular animation at the DeVos Performance Hall SEE A7
MAPPING CAMPUS CLIMATE Inclusion and Equity survey to open Nov. 12
SPORTS
No. 1 GV soccer wins eighth straight title Gabriella Mencotti, Corby lead Lakers to 5-0 win over Ashland, marking GV’s eighth consecutive GLIAC tournament win on Sunday SEE A9
ONLINE
In order to get a reading on how students, faculty and staff of all identities experience being a Laker, the Division of Inclusion and Equity is launching its fifth Campus Climate survey this Thursday. It has been four years since the last survey was taken. In 2011, Grand Valley State University conducted its fourth Campus Climate survey. The survey asked questions about how members of the GVSU community perceived the campus atmosphere and evaluated Lakers’ experiences on campus.
BY AUDRA GAMBLE EDITORIAL@LANTHORN.COM
tudents at Grand Valley State University know that as soon as they step on campus, being a “Laker for a Lifetime” becomes a part of their identity. For some Lakers, identity can play a bigger role in their college experience than others. This is particularly true for those who identify as part of a minority population.
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Looking at weddings around the world
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Lanthorn columnist Anush Yepremyan highlights differences in wedding traditions from different regions around the world SEE LANTHORN.COM
KEEPING COUNT: Vice President of Inclusion and Equity Jesse Bernal speaks with GVSU community members. This year’s climate survey will be the first since 2011. GVL | EMILY FRYE
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Some of the results of this and other previous Campus Climate surveys are the creation of the Women’s Center, the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center and the Office of Multicultural Affairs. The Bias Incident Report protocol and the formation of eight employee affinity groups are also results of data collected from Campus Climate surveys. Since 2011, quite a lot has changed at GVSU. As such, the Division of Inclusion and Equity has created a new Campus Climate survey to reassess
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Expanding campus again BY DREW HOWARD ASSISTANTNEWS@LANTHORN.COM
fficials at Grand Valley State University Facilities Planning department have started developing plans to expand the downtown Grand Rapids health campus with the construction of a new facility on the corner of Hastings Street and Lafayette Avenue. With the new facility scheduled to open for students in the 2018-2019 academic year, some details on the project - including its proposed budget - have yet to be decided on. Shannon Sullivan, project manager for Facilities Planning, said the new facility aims to meet the needs of the College of Health Professions and the Kirkhof College of Nursing at GVSU. More specifically, the new facility will provide extra room for additional student resources that could not fit into other existing buildings. “The building will include classrooms, student study spaces and offices,” Sullivan said. “The current proposal is between 70,000 to 80,000 square feet.
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The building is yet another addition to GVSU’s presence on the “Medical Mile,” an area along Michigan Street that includes facilities such as the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences, the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Secchia Center and Spectrum Health’s Butterworth Hospital complex. For comparison in size, the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences is 217,000 square feet and includes 12 general classrooms, 200 faculty/staff offices, two computer labs and 10,000 square feet of wet lab research space. James Moyer, associate vice president for Facilities Planning, said discussions concerning the design of the upcoming facility began in the second quarter of 2015. However, Moyer added that plans for development go back several years. “The project is located on a tract of land purchased by the university several years ago,” Moyer said. “The land was purchased after other opportunities were exhausted.” According to an article published by MiBiz in September 2015, GVSU purchased an 11acre tract of land along with 100 homes back in October 2013. Beginning in the late spring of 2016, construction for the new facility will
not require the demolition of all 100 homes. Instead, GVSU plans to demolish only the ones necessary to make additional room. With the new facility being built next to a residential neighborhood, the MiBiz article noted that many individuals were upset with GVSU for not detailing how the university would handle parking and traffic. There were also concerns about whether the new facility would fit in with local zoning regulations. Aside from traffic and zoning regulation issues, the article further explained that neighborhood residents were concerned with the new construction as the area is supposed to remain “predominately residential in nature,” according to the Belknap Area Specific plan from February 2010. However, Moyer ensures that GVSU is not breaking any zoning rules by building the new facility next to the neighborhood. “There is always concern about inconsistent uses in traditional residential areas,” he said. “Recent developments in the neighborhood, while residential in use, are different than the traditional single-family use. These non-traditional uses have been supported by the review and approval structures within the neighborhood.”
New GV health facility expected for 2018
BUILDING UP: Grand Valley State University is planning an expansion of the Medical Mile in downtown Grand Rapids along with its Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences. The building will include classrooms, student study spaces and offices, totaling 70,00 to 80,000 square feet. GVL | SARA CARTE
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how individuals interact with GVSU. The survey opens on Nov. 12, and can be taken by all GVSU students, faculty and staff. “This is a campus that actually uses the data when we get it,” said Jesse Bernal, vice president of the Division of Inclusion and Equity. “I’ve been at an institution before that collected a lot of data and had some fancy report and that was it, there was no action. SEE CLIMATE | A2
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GV students protest Detroit charter school instability BY ASHLYN KORIENEK AKORIENEK@LANTHORN.COM
o provide regulation of Detroit’s educational system, students from universities across Michigan gathered at the Michigan Association of State University Presidents’ Council meeting in Lansing to address demands of the Students in Solidarity Campaign. Students from Grand Valley State University, Eastern Michigan University, Central Michigan University and the University of Michigan held a press conference outside the meeting on Nov. 4 to deliver a letter to the Michigan Council of Charter School Authorizers, asking for the community’s voice to be heard. Among the authorizers are nine universities where Timothy Wood, associate vice president for the Charter Schools Office, represents GVSU on the board of directors. In addition, the charter schools are regulated by the university based on state and federal laws. Wood said GVSU’s Charter Schools Office currently has 71 charter schools authorized, with at least 24 open in Detroit. He said the universities are not in charge of operating the schools, but monitoring the performance. “We see that there continues to be a number of failing schools in the city of Detroit and other urban centers,” Wood said. “Those schools do not give parents a good educational option to their children. Our position is we are providing an opportunity for kids to get a better education.” The university has been an authorizer for 21 years. Wood said GVSU has closed 15 charter schools in that time due to failure to meet the educational standards. He said the authorizing council addresses the opening and closing of these schools as a strategic plan to provide a quality education. “A charter school has to help kids, otherwise they are closed,” Wood said. “We are just on politically different sides of the fence right now.” Nicole Kleiman-Moran, senior at University of Michigan and member of Students of Solidarity, said the letter addressed to the council demanded the immediate end of opening and closing of charter schools in Detroit until the creation of the Detroit Education Committee (DEC). “It’s such a complex situation and that’s not how a school system should be,” Kleiman-Moran said. “The main goal is getting these kids a proper edu-
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SEE SOLIDARITY | A2
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